Genova Genetics
by Aoi Para
Summary: Riku was a new breed of human. Beautiful and radiant, he was the first genetically enhanced human. It was only natural for Sora to stare, right? AU Eventual RiSo, AxSo, Minor SoKai, LeCl Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So here ish my new story. My other one wsn't drawing in as many as I liked, and I was hit with inspiration. Thus this was born. It's a school romance fic, but nothing with me is ever simple or smiley happy, so don't be expecting anything like that. This chapter is about as light and happy as I _ever_ get. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy it. As always, give my stuff 'til the second or third chapter to really decide if you like it or not. I'm a plot builder. The bunnies love me. Expect this to update slower than Drowning in My Dearly Beloved. Like, one of this for every two or so of Drowning.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned KH, Tidus would be running around in a speedo, Riku in leather, Axel in a skirt, and Sora in chains. But I don't, so they don't.

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Sora couldn't help but stare at the angel walking down the hall. It had been two years since that silver haired god began walking the halls of SIG, but Sora had never worked up the courage to talk to him once. It was almost sad. The silverette was friends with everyone. He was tall. He was prettier than any girl in the school. He had these amazing aqua eyes that didn't seem to end. He had that ethereal hair. He always got perfect scores and was good at almost all sports. He had a fan club. He was perfect.

He was genetically enhanced by his father.

Riku Onaga and his 'twin' brother were lab babies, perfect in almost everyway. Of course Sora couldn't help but stare. The short brunette watched as Riku fiddled with the laces on his shoes, then pulled the necessary indoor shoes out. There was already a large crowd surrounding the delicious laboratory confection, despite the fact classes didn't start for another hour and a half. That was approximately thirty minutes earlier than was expected of them, but that didn't faze the fan girls.

Sora sighed, finally giving up looking at Riku. The brunette was only there on a very fragile scholarship and he had to study to stay in. Seguchi Institute for the Gifted wasn't a place students attended only to slack off. The brunette hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder as he headed off to the Arts Library in the West Wing of the school—the exact opposite direction Riku and his entourage were headed.

It wouldn't have been so odd that Sora had never spoken to Riku if it weren't for the fact that Riku was _Riku_. Students didn't usually interact with students from other fields very often, and Riku was one of the Math and Science students. Sora, on the other hand, was Visual and Performing Arts, more specifically Photo, 3D Art, and Competition Chorus.

Upon entering the colossal library, Sora sought out his friends and threw his backpack in an empty seat. None of them raised their heads from their books. The brunette paid no attention as he headed off to get his own books. He sat back down with a stack of six art books and an Art History book. He pulled his sketchbook and pencils from him bag before opening the first art book.

"Psssssst. Sooooraa," one of his friends whispered to him from across the table. He leaned across the table, meeting the taller boy halfway.

"Yeah, Demy?" the brunette whispered back. The dirty blonde across from him grinned manically, blue eyes glinting with mischief.

"You hear about Kadaj?" Demyx asked.

"No, I haven't. Please inform me," Sora whispered, brow scrunching in thought.

"He got in a big fight after hours with that Seifer kid from the Athletics Department last night. Big Bad Daddy's having to fight tooth and nail to keep him from getting expelled. Kadaj himself is on indefinite suspension until things are sorted out. I head he was in the hospital too," the teen whispered excitedly to Sora.

"I think it serves him right," another of Sora's friends whispered. "Kadaj is a real jerk most of the time."

"Namine, that's so… out of character," Demyx whispered, shocked.

"Well, I can't help it. He always pushes me in the hall when we pass it other. Just the other day he made me fall on my own wet canvas," she pouted. Namine was another one of those pretty faces that walked around the school but she was too shy to stay in the lime light for long.

"Man. That blows," Demyx said, going through the motions of whistling. Sora sighed and turned back to the art book. He began jotting down ideas into his sketchbook as his friends quietly conversed. Kadaj was supposedly Riku's twin but there were too many adults that said they weren't for anyone to say it was a fact or not. The two boys, though, seemed to claim they were twins. Thus the rumor mill was going quite strong over those two. Hot brothers that belong to an esteemed scientist. There was no better combination for perfect obsession material.

"Heeeeeey! Ya hear about Little Onaga?" A rather loud, nasally voice called from across the library. Everyone in the library visibly flinched at the sudden outburst. Sora turned halfway around in his seat to see another of his friends strolling up. Several of the librarians were glaring at the tall, lanky red head. The boy walked on with out a care though. The red head dropped his books on the table with a loud thud and dropped into the seat next to Sora. "I saw him get his face broken by Seifer, and now Daddy's having to fork out the dough to pay for face reconstruction."

"Axel, Shut up! We're in the library!" hissed the final member of the group, a red haired girl that held a rather striking resemblance to Namine.

"Oh, _shut up_, Kairi. You're not even supposed to _be_ here. Or did you forget that you're a _Math and Science_ student?" Axel sneered, still not lowering his voice.

"You shut up. I have permission to be here! I have to do a five page essay on Impressionism for my art class, thank you very much," Kairi snapped, but still mindful of the fact they were in a library.

"Guys, come on. Cut it out," Sora whined quietly. "Axel, please quiet down? I don't want us to get in trouble again."

"Mmm… Alright, Sora," Axel said, lowering his voice as low as the others. He glanced at the brunette beside him with slightly hooded eyes and sighed. Sora glanced up from the book and looked into Axel's eyes.

"Is… something wrong?" Sora asked, just barely audible.

"No. Not really," Axel replied, looking away and opening the first play book in his pile. Slowly, the others returned to their studies as more people began to fill up the library.

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Students poured out of the library at ten 'til seven. All were scattering out towards their respective classes. Sora was off towards the photo studio, Demyx to the band room, Namine towards the 2D art studio, Kairi to the East Wing, and Axel walked along side Demyx until he would be forced to part in order to reach the stage. Axel's emerald eyes scanned the crowd of about four hundred students, looking for anything ridiculous. His attention was pulled back to Demyx, though, as the slightly shorter teen gripped his hand.

"You… you should really tell Sora, you know. You don't have long left here," The dirty blonde expressed, pulling his hand back to play with the hem of his black, button down uniform top. Five white strips adorned the cuffs and collar.

"Dem, I would if I could. I just don't think he's like that. I mean, haven't you seen the way he looks at Kairi sometimes?" Axel said, placing his arms behind his head.

"Have _you_ seen the way_ you_ look at Sora sometimes? I swear, you may be a good actor, Axel, but those rare moments the mask drops, it's so obvious that you want in Sora's pants," Demyx teased.

"Shut _up_, _Ixie_," Axel said, shoving Demyx in the shoulder.

"Uhhhg!! Nyuuu! Don't call me that!" Demyx cried, dodging a second blow from Axel.

"Look, it doesn't really matter if I'm only here for another year after this," Axel started. "Sora goes to Namine and Kairi's dorm a lot to talk them into being models for photos and paintings and stuff. Sometimes to Yuffie too. I don't know when the last time you saw his assignment log was, but they've never peen anything really provocative or stuff. But he always manages to catch them in really sexy ways. And I swear I've caught him kissing Kairi at sports games several times."

"Look, I'm telling you Sora isn't straight, so believe me. I _know_ when they are and aren't," Demyx said, pulling Axel close to his lips so the words wouldn't be heard by the thinning crowd.

"And what makes you so sure?" Axel snapped.

"I saw him starring at Riku's ass this morning," Demyx sang, grinning wildly.

"Uhg! Everybody stares at Riku's ass!" Axel said, pushing Demyx away. The red head picked up his pace a little. Demyx lunged forward onto Axel, stealing his arm away.

"So what if everyone does? But I'd never noticed him doing it before. Not to mention I caught him staring at Tidus Caligula's ass when he was getting out of the pool after that meet. And I swear I saw him blushing a little," the dirty blonde said.

"That really boosts my esteem Demyx. He's looking at athletic guys. If you haven't noticed, I'm skinnier than a stick and lack muscle," Axel snorted cheerily.

"Stop with the damn sarcasm, Ax. Just tell him soon. Both of you look so… lonely lately," Demyx sighed before finally pulling away and heading to the band hall. "I'll catch you at lunch."

The red head grumbled for a moment before picking up his speed again and rushing to the stage. It was going to be a long three hours.

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Sora sighed, taking the last shot on his role of film. The model wasn't incredibly interesting to the teen. She was one of three of his classmates that was easily talked into putting on skimpy modeling clothes and sitting provocatively—or at least as provocatively as a teenage girl was allowed to be in school without it being considered porn. She shifted on her pedestal and moved her hair, already having overcome the fear of the cameras an hour or so ago. The brunette boy quickly changed out the film in his camera and began shooting again.

Sora was known among his class of fourteen as one of the best. He'd almost always managed near impossible angles that brought out the best in his subject. He'd mostly taken pictures of girls or inanimate objects or animals, but the best of his work always was submitted to competitions or shows. He'd been told numerous times by his teachers that he could easily make some of the money he needed for tuition by selling his works. He had a natural eye that no one could doubt.

Halfway through the second role of film, the teacher called for everyone to stop. Sora snapped one last picture as the model hopped down from her perch before putting the cap over the lens. It didn't take the little brunette long before the brunette was finished packing up his camera, filmed stored securely. As he prepared to leave the studio the teacher called out, "Fifty pictures or the end of your roll, which ever's more! Tomorrow's model's are as follows: Aoi! Spencer! Sora! Come prepared!"

Sora groaned. Somewhere along the line, the teachers at SIG had thought it'd be a good idea to use the students as models instead of calling professionals or pulling others out of class. It was Sora's least favorite part of the class for the simple fact that he was often left to the mercy of the girl's in the class before getting up for the pictures. A solid pout formed on his lips and stayed there until he neared the 3D Art studio.

The brunette nearly fell to the ground as a large body collided with it from behind. Strong arms lifted him into the air before hoisting him up and throwing him over his shoulders. Sora caught a flash of red and five white strips. He promptly began kicking and whining.

"Axeeeeeeeel! Let me down! I have two feet and can walk, thank you very much!" The red head carrying him only laughed as he entered the 3D studio. He placed Sora carefully on the ground next to his working space and grinned. "I really wish you do that," Sora pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

"Gotta keep you on your toes, Sor. Come on, admit it. You know your life would be boring with out me," Axel teased, burying his hand in Sora's spikes and ruffling his hair. Sora swatted the hand away, pout still going full force. Axel's smile faltered slightly before growing ever more devious. "What's wrong Rarie?"

"Axel! Don't call me that!" Sora said, snapping to life suddenly, pushing Axel away. Some of Sora's hair caught on Axel's fingers and the brunette cried in pain as it was pulled. After detangling himself, Axel gave Sora a sheepish grin.

"Heh. Sorry about that. Really. Bit seriously, Sora, what's up? You're pouting way more than usual," the older murmured, leaning in close to Sora and playing with the four white bands on Sora's sleeve. Sora tugged his hand away, moving it behind him.

"Nothing, much. I just have to model tomorrow, that's all," Sora said, leaning on his worktable.

"If that's all, I can do your make-up before the pictures the girls won't be pawing at your face," Axel offered. The younger looked up at him, eyes wide and pleading.

"Oh gawd, please do. Putting up with you for thirty minutes is way better than putting up with four girls for five,"

"Heeeeeeey. What do you mean, 'putting up with me'? I'm not that bad, am I?" Axel took this chance to pout as he looked straight ahead.

"Oh, come on, Ax. You know I didn't mean it that way." The red head scoffed and looked in a different direction. "Axeeeel. Come on, stop being such a—"

"Wai!" Axel interrupted, pushing away from Sora's worktable and running backwards to his own. The teacher burst into the room the next moment. Sora wanted to beat his head on the table, but refrained. He was about to call Axel a baby jokingly, but it seemed that the red head was already acting like one without teasing. The childish call cemented that in his mind.

The teacher signaled the start of class, but there were students already working on their projects. They were all nearing completion, but some were taking it just a step farther than the others. Moving to the closet, Sora admired Namine's work as he passed. They were assigned to make dresses—the most complicated and intricate dresses they could. They had spent the better part of three weeks just designing and sowing the dresses. After the completion of the dress, they were expected to hand embroider them. Sora grabbed his manikin and lugged it back to his desk.

The brunette only had a short way to go before the frilly maid's dress would be finished. It was a pain in the ass and his least favorite part about the class so far. The only reason he was in it was for the other, more manly projects they would have. Axel, on the other hand, seemed to be enjoying the project. He'd defied the teacher early on and decided to make a two-piece suit with flowing pant legs to give off the effect of a skirt. As far as Sora knew, the older boy was only there to become better at stage props and costumes. The brunette hunkered down, mentally preparing himself for a long two hours.

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Axel walked pridefully out of the 3D with three new bandages on his fingers and a very flustered Sora trapped in his grasp. The two were headed off to a long over due lunch. Axel, himself, hadn't eaten since the nigh before and was starving. Upon entering the large cafeteria, the red head tossed Sora at their normal table to reserve it before scurrying off to get in the slowly growing lunch lines.

The red head grabbed two trays, one for him and Sora, and proceeded into the hall of glorious heaven foods, as Axel liked to refer to it. It had almost everything imaginable at lunch and diner times. Students living in the dorms were given meal cards with three meals to tide them over. Off campus students were given two meals, seeing as everyone spent almost nine hours everyday in class alone and often missed family meals.

The red head grabbed a chicken chef salad for himself, a fruit cup for Sora, a five meat and cheese sub for himself, french-fries and cheeseburger for Sora, and a piece of German chocolate cake for Sora. He grabbed a bottle of green tea and a coke before swinging to the register. After swiping both his and Sora's cards, he headed back to the table, balancing the food carefully.

Sora stared up at Axel after the tray was placed in front of him. The blue pools melted something deep inside Axel. Before he could even sit down, Sora lunged on him, pouring thanks. The red head chuckled as he patted Sora's back. A cat whistle sounded and Sora was off Axel before he even realized it. Axel looked over to the disturbance only to find Demyx grinning from ear to ear. The dirty blonde placed his food on the table before sitting down. The other two took their places.

"You two looked rather comfy. You're not hiding anything from me, are you?" Demyx teased. Sora blushed, grabbing his cheeseburger.

"No. I was just thanking him for the food. Axel always seems to know what I want," the little brunette said, taking a bite after finishing. Demyx shot Axel a rather pointed look, but his only response was Axel's tongue.

"It's 'cause we've know each other for like, what? Seven years? I've eaten thousands of meals with you, Sora. Of course I know what you like," Axel replied, sitting back and stabbing his fork into a piece of chicken.

"Mah. What I don't get is why you eat so healthy, Ax. I mean seriously, you're so skinny," Sora said, popping a grape in his mouth.

"Gotta keep up the figure. Everyone would kill me if I gained weight so close to a show," Axel said through a mouthful of chicken. Sora groaned and turned away. Axel swallowed before continuing. "And 'sides, I don't look good with chubby cheek like a certain somebody." Axel lent over and pinched Sora's cheeks. The brunette squirmed and pushed his way out o Axel's grasp.

"Seriously, Axel. You eat like a girl. It's scary. Can't you just eat something greasy for once?" a female voice chimed in as she sat down. Axel stared flatly across the table at her.

"Well, looky there It's Kairi," Axel deadpanned. The one thing he never his from Sora was he didn't like Kairi. He hadn't liked her from the day the two ran into each other four years ago and formed a tight friendship. All conversation seemed to die down, then, as everyone focused more on their food.

"You know what I don't get?" Sora said suddenly, breaking the silence. "If Riku's brother got in a fight and had his face pounded in, why doesn't he seem affected?"

"It's because he's not on good terms with Kadaj. They've been at odds with each other every time I've seen them together," Axel answered, gazing sadly over at the table with Riku and the popular kids.

"Really? That's right, Riku's in your grade. Don't you have a class with him?" Kairi said, her interest piquing.

"Yeah. I do. With both the little Onagas, actually. All three of us have PE together, and I have History with Kadaj and English with Riku. Both are snot nosed little brats that just have to be the best at everything. They really get on my nerves," Axel said, sulking in his seat and poking at his sub.

"You know… I really wouldn't mind using either of them as models. They're so pretty. Ok, well maybe not Kadaj right now, but… Riku and his friends. I haven't really worked with guys and I think it'd be a good experience to work with good looking men an—"

"Sora just shut up. That's really enough rambling. Jeez. I swear, it's like you've got a crush or something," Axel said, pouting into his arms. His food wasn't that appealing anymore.

"Axel!! I'm not crushing on anybody!" Sora defended himself, waving his arms around in the air. Demyx giggled, and Kairi looked a little offended.

"Look, if you really want a male model to work with, just use me or Demy," Axel pouted.

"No offense, but you two are way to scrawny. I want some guys with muscle. You know, guys that look good without shirts… on…" Axel slammed his hand down on the table.

"I look just fine without a shirt on, thank you very much. Besides, when was the last time you saw either Demy or me shirtless? Two years ago?" The red head turned away again, huffing.

"Axel, it's not that! Uhg, it's just hard to explain. You know Riku, right? Well, can you do me a huge favor and ask if he or friends would pose for me?" Sora pleaded, grabbing Axel's arm.

"Sora, no—"

"Pleeeeeeasssse?" Sor begged, pulling out his best puppy dog eyes. Axel melted immediately.

"Fine. I'll do it," Axel grumbled, hating the fact that he was a sucker for anything cute that Sora did. Rising to his feet, Axel briskly walked over to the popular boys' table. He slammed his hands down on the table, calling the attention of all there. He swept his gaze over the eight boys in their black uniforms and various colored stripes. "I've got an offer I think you guys might find hard to refuse."

"Oh really? What is it? Free sex or something? If it is, I'm not interesting," cracked one of the boys. A few started laughing. Axel only made a small annoyed face before continuing.

"Actually, I'm here to offer you guys a chance at getting into the Arts and Literary magazine. I'm sure at least some of you or your parents read it. I'm also sure you've noticed those really awesome portraits of sexy girls at our school that make it in. They're all done by this genius third year Sora Watanabe." Axel paused as a large smirk over took his features. "He's looking to broaden his horizons some and is wondering if any of you fine gentlemen would like to pose for him."

The table erupted in whispers, secretive glances and quiet laughter. It was starting to grate on Axel's nerves. After a few long moments a blonde on the opposite side of the table from Axel raised his hand, a small smile on his lips. "I'll do it," he said, causing the others at the table to look at him in somewhat shock. "When and where?"

"I-I'll tell you when I see you in math later…" Axel said, jaw nearly on the floor. Of all the people at the table, he hadn't expected Tidus Caligula to volunteer. The blonde nodded before jumping back into the conversation that Axel had interrupted, the others following shortly after.

Axel slowly headed back to his table, a sickening feeling growing in his stomach. His gut was telling him that he'd just set Sora and himself up for a long, bumpy ride to hell and back. What had he done?

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Author's Note: So a quick explanation of the school: It's like a collage, but designed around teenagers. It has three departments, Arts, Math and Science, and Athletics. It has five years, starting at eighth grade. Most students live on Campus. They attend school for roughly ten hours a day and there is no extra ciricular.

That's all I really have to say about the school. Anyway, I'm hoping this hits off well. Don't wory, there will be loads more Riku soon. Some Kadaj and Sephy as well. Check out me other story please.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** So there's this Korean stoner kid in my PE class that tends to wipe his forehead with his PE shirt. Every time I see him do that and get a glimpse of his flat girly stomach and hips, I get the urge to knock him out and dress him up in frilly maid's outfits and take pictures. That and write this chapter. So if you're wondering why I'm doing something as lame and over used as what lies ahead, that's why. He's also the spawn for almost everything in this chapter, despite the fact I've never spoken a word to him.

And yes, I am aware of Jenova being spelt wrong in the title (don't know how many of you noticed though…). I did that because Genova looks better with Genetics behind it than Jenova. It also takes it a step farther from Jehova… but that's a whole other play on words… and I like spelling things strangely from time to time. On another note, I'm actually a bit shocked at the number of reviews I got for the first chapter on the first night. My other story didn't get a review until chapter three. I find it ironic though, since Drowning is my little baby and this was something I started because I got a good idea that I hadn't seen before.

Brennend—I don't know whether to take your review as advice or constructive criticism. But I luffles you anyway. That was the first review that I've received here that was actually… a real review. All the others were like, "OMG! Love it! Update soon!!!!!" I've actually gone back and fixed most of the mistakes, it's just a pain to reupload the chapter. I'm a lazy being and don't own a Windows operated computer. The editing system on FFN doesn't support Safari (my browser), and my Internet Explorer is too outdated and total crap. It annoys me to no end that I can't edit the already posted stuff. I can't even make my profile.

Tysonkaiexeriment—I'm not a big Roxas fan, to tell the truth. I'm still debating if and how I'd use him. But I ironically love Axel to death and don't mind AkuRoku that much. As for Tidus, I totally agree. But some things a Caesar must do on his own.

Lifes.Lover—It's actually a bit early to assume Kadaj is a brat. I luffle Kadaj probably as much as I do Sora and Riku—and I luffles them a lot. But Kadaj hasn't actually really come in yet.

Dunkelmur—I can't express how much I've been seriously been debating that myself. But I'm a cruel little raccoon, so you never know…

**Disclaimer:** Damn. That was a long Author's note. But that's really all I own. Yes, I own a bunch of rambling and a plot. That's it folks! These characters aren't mine!! So sad, yes, I know.

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Sora stepped carefully and somewhat self consciously out of the locker room and into the room containing the school's Olympic-sized pool. He clutched his special camera and it's waterproof casing to his chest. The brunette wasn't used to subjecting his body to public view like he was at the moment. For what he had in mind, he had needed to wear swim trunks. The only ones he could find were a couple of years old and getting on the uncomfortable side. And despite the fact that they were almost too small, Sora just couldn't bring himself to ask Axel or Demyx for their swim trunks. It would have just been too embarrassing, and he already knew that they would be too big. The last thing he wanted was to loose his swim trunks in front of _Tidus Caligula._

Tidus was already seated at the edge, feet submerged into the water. The blonde looked up at the brunette, grinning slightly. Sora had asked him to wear his blitzball team practice uniform for the pictures. It was a skintight black body suit that showed off every exquisite muscle on his body. It ended at mid-thigh and was sleeveless, much like the uniform. While the uniform usually contained some form of shoe, Tidus had left them off as Sora had asked.

It was getting late, already way past when they were supposed to be back at the dorms doing homework. Extra practices for school academic teams were done and over, and all students that had hung around for pleasure were back at their dorms or off in the cafeteria eating dinner.

"Do you know how much trouble we could get in, Watanabe?" Tidus asked, his grin growing by the second.

"We won't. I may be struggling in my academic classes, but they seriously can't scold me for doing my homework. That'd just be lame. Besides, photo students have access to just about every part of the school at any given time," Sora said, moving to the pool's edge.

"Sounds cushy," Tidus said, leaning back on his arms.

"It comes in handy sometimes but most people don't use it."

"So, tell me, what exactly are we doing?" Tidus asked, getting straight to the point.

"Uh, well I had planned on trying to take a few shots of you under water. But, uh, it's been a couple years since I've been in water, so, uh, we can't go too deep. I don't want to accidentally drown myself."

"You're here with the star blitz player and swimmer. If you drown, I'll save you. Don't worry."

"Uh, oh yeah. Right…" Sora said, trailing off. He was fighting down a slight blush. After all, he was next to _the_ Tidus Caligula. Next to the Onagas, he was one of the hottest guys in school. One of the _top ten_ hottest males, as stated by all the girls. Of course, Sora didn't exactly know why he was having to hold back a blush. He was damn sure that he was straight three weeks ago.

"So what do you want me to do to start off with?" Tidus finally said, breaking Sora out of his thoughts.

"Uh, let's start by actually getting in the water. I want to take a few test shots before actually taking some serious ones." The brunette held up his digital camera in a protective casing.

"Won't that get fried?"

"Nope!" Sora said cheerily, a goofy smile on his lips. "It's one of those camera's that they designed specifically for underwater use in blitz. The casing is just an extra precaution."

"Alriiiight, then," Tidus said. He slipped into the water. Sora followed suit. The brunette allowed himself to sink until he was submerged up to his chest. Tidus dunked himself fully before coming back up.

"So, uh, after I go down, I want you to kind of propel yourself out. I'll find you with my camera and shoot a couple shots. That should be good for now," Sora said, the smile still present.

"Won't the water burn your eyes?"

"I grew up on another island, so I'm used to it."

"Whatever."

Sora dunked below the water, Tidus following after. The brunette began to shoot the moment Tidus's head was submerged, capturing several shots as he propelled himself off the side of the pool. The blonde surfaced a few feet away. Sora took a moment to pop back up, but as soon as he did, he was looking through the pictures.

"Any good?" Tidus asked, returning to Sora's side. The brunette said nothing but nodded in reply. He flipped threw them again before looking up.

"These are wonderful. Better than I expected. Let's start with what you did, but keep going. And don't go more than a few feet away. Just do whatever's natural. Ok?" The blonde nodded and the two dunked back under together. Tidus swam around pulling different stunts while Sora pulled in close or back up, messing with the setting. Every couple of minutes, Sora would surface for air and dunk back under. After a solid twenty minutes, Sora surfaced, satisfied with the amount of pictures. He began flipping through the pictures, deleting the occasional bad one.

Tidus surfaced and made his way over after a moment. He plucked the camera from Sora's hand and looked through it himself. After a few moments the blonde gave a low whistle. "Damn. I've… I've never seen myself look so… hot before in my life." Sora snatched the camera back and cradled it to his chest.

"It's a tendency of mine. Doesn't matter what I take a picture of. It's always gorgeous," The brunette said, a slight pout on his lips. He began to move towards the edge of the pool and was pulling himself out when Tidus spoke again.

"Watanabe, are you gay?" Tidus's voice was blunt and flat, as if assuming what he asked was more a stated fact than a question. Sora looked back a little shocked at the fifth year that hadn't moved.

"Why would care?" he answered a bit defensively.

"It's a fair question, Watanabe. You'd be how surprised how many our school has, even in the Athletics Department." The blonde sunk in the water and began swimming towards Sora. Pulling himself out quickly, Sora scrambled away from the edge.

"Not really. I know a lot of gay guys. Some lesbians too." Tidus smirked, pulling himself out of the pool. He advanced towards Sora. Gulping, Sora backed up slightly. This was _not_ happening.

"Yeah, well you know what? You've got yourself a little secret admirer, and it's making me sick watching him flounder around." Sora's breath caught. His thoughts ceased, not at the news but at Tidus. In the very back of his mind he was cursing himself. He wasn't supposed to be attracted to the water running down Tidus's lean muscled body. Coming from the pool, the blonde looked as if he were a god—his hair sticking to his face, the pool lights hitting his face just right, the way the water glistened on his body as it slowly dripped down. Sora couldn't help raising the camera and snapping a picture.

"Is that so?" he asked distractedly. Tidus frowned slightly before smirking even deeper.

"Yeah. As a matter of fact yes. I'm sick and tired of watching beat around the bush." Sora blinked before he fully realized that Tidus was standing within a foot of him. "Axel wants to fuck you senseless." Dora's mouth fell open as he processed the information.

"A-axel… Oh gawd..." Sora swallowed before stepping back.

"The guy is pathetic. It's clear to anyone watching that he's been after you since last year. Personally, if the nut can't confess, then he's so not worth it," Tidus said as he shifted his weight to one leg.

"I…"

"Look, if you still want to stick with the whole not liking boys thing, just tell him you aren't interested and assert that you don't like guys. You're a cute piece of ass without your uniform. Guys will be all over you soon if you don't tell them you're straight now. Trust me, I know from experience." With that, the blonde left leaving Sora to stew in his pool of thoughts.

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Sora sat on his bed in a daze. Not being able to accept let himself accept Tidus's words was getting him nowhere. He'd have to talk with Axel eventually. That moment was inevitable. He didn't think he could rest until he was sure that Axel wasn't harboring some hidden, wonton feeling for him.

Sora was so caught up in the swirl of thoughts that he didn't even notice the loud banging at his door or Axel enter. The red head grabbed his friend's shoulder, gently shaking him out of his thoughts. Sora blinked a couple times before jumping back and out of Axel's grasp.

"Don't do that!" he shouted at his best friend. Axel gave him a concerned look.

"It's not like you didn't have any warning. I was banging on your door for five minutes."

"Oh," Sora answered lamely.

"Look, I know you haven't eaten anything yet, so I was wondering if you wanted to go meet up with Demy and catch a bite before the cafeteria closes for the night."

"Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you and Demyx break up?" Sora's voice grew quiet at the question, now treading on territory that he probably should have stayed away from.

"We both agreed that we were growing apart and were beginning to like other people. That's all."

"So that's why you two are still on good terms?"

"Yes, Sora. Now do you want to go eat or not?" The brunette merely shook his head. Axel sighed and kneeled down by Sora's bed. "Come on. It'll make you feel better."

"I'm not really hungry."

"Oh gawd, the world is ending!" Axel cried falling backwards onto the ground. His head hit with a rather loud bang, and he began cursing. He wiggled around for a moment before falling limp.

"Why is it the end of the world?" Sora asked, leaning forward to see if his friend was ok. Axel shot straight into a sitting position.

"You aren't hungry for once in your life. It's a sign of the apocalypse, I'm telling you. You're _always_ hungry."

"Am not!"

"Are too!" Axel said, sticking his tongue out. He grinned wildly up at Sora before the brunette huffed and turned away. Axel sighed, moving closer to his best friend's legs. "Alright already. What's up? Did Tidus say or do something? Just tell me. I'll go beat his ass."

"He… didn't do anything."

"Then why do you look more confused than you normally do? And you're more sad than normal too. Come on. I'm your best friend, right?" Sora blushed slightly and turned even farther away from Axel.

"Axel… Do you… Do you like me?"

"Of course. You're my best friend. Why wouldn't I like you?"

"No, I mean really _like_ me like me." Axel's face hardened considerably at the comment. It was now or never he supposed.

"I… I was wondering if you'd catch on," the red head said quietly. "I was trying to hide it."

"So you do?" Sora asked, turning slightly to face Axel.

"Look, I completely understand if you don't like me back. I kinda knew all a long it really wouldn't work between us because Demyx just _can't_ be right all the time and—"

"Demyx? What does he have to do with this mess?"

"He… he's been pushing me to tell you."

"I've been sleeping with Kairi," the brunette admitted quietly. Axel was the only other person besides Namine to know now. He was somewhat frightened with his friend knowing, especially after the little confession Sora had forced out of him.

"I guessed as much," Axel muttered, clenching his fist, nails digging into his palm.

"Is that why you hate Kairi so much?"

"It's one reason, but not the only. I just can't stand her at all."

"Oh." Axel sighed heavily.

"Look, I should probably leave." The red head stood and moved towards the door. However, Sora's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Axel?" The redhead hummed in acknowledgement. "I'm so confused right now. I-I was so sure that I was straight a couple weeks ago—the last time I was with Kairi. But lately… Lately I've been noticing a lot of things I didn't before. On guys. I'm getting scared."

"Sora…" Axel moved back to Sora and pulled him into his arms. "Look, it's ok. No one will blame you if these feelings stay. You're parents are cool. They haven't cut Cloud off yet, have they?"

"N-no. But that'd be such a horrible thing to do to Kairi. She thinks we'd be good together. She wants to start dating over the summer." Sora sunk into Axel's embrace.

"Honestly, the bitch probably deserves a shock like that. She's given a lot of people shit."

"Axel…"

"Just sayin'. Jeez." Axel sat down on the corner of the bed, pulling Sora deeper into his embrace. Sora pulled away for a moment, squirming around so he could burry his face in Axel's shoulder.

"I'm still really afraid. I mean… I've thought I liked girls. I've slept with like… three. And thoroughly enjoyed it."

"Jeez. Slut much?"

"Heeey!" Sora pouted.

"I'm just saying. You haven't officially dated anyone ever and you've screwed three girls. _I_, on the other hand, have been in about five and never got farther than a blowjob."

"Really? But I coulda sworn you and Demyx were sleeping together, being in the same room and all."

"Nah. He got a blowjob or two and I got nothing. One reason we never got too much farther."

"I see." Sora nuzzled his face into Axel's neck. A shiver ran down the red head's spine.

"Guh! Don't do that unless you're seriously considering dating me."

"Axel?" Sora asked, pulling his face away from Axel's shoulder for the first time since getting into that position.

"Yeah?" Ever so carefully, Sora leaned up and pressed his lips to Axel's. He pulled back after a second, but not very far.

"I… think I want to experiment with you." He leaned forward again and placed his lips a little more firmly against Axel's. He decided it wasn't that much different than kissing a girl at that point. When they pulled back after a moment, Axel seemed to be crossed.

"You're going to break my heart, aren't you?" the red head whispered, leaning in and taking Sora's lips a little more forcefully.

"I don't know," Sora breathed when they broke again. He moved his hands from their position at his sides to around Axel's neck, pulling him back down. Their lips met fiercer yet, and Axel flicked his tongue over Sora's lips. The brunette opened his mouth, tongue moving to fight for dominance over Axel's. After a moment, Sora caved in and retreated back to his mouth. Taking full advantage of the surrender, Axel slipped his tongue into Sora's mouth. Wet muscle slid against wet muscle as the red head explored the younger male's mouth. After a moment, Axel pulled back, panting lightly.

"We're moving a bit fast. Keep going like this and we won't have a friendship to salvage when you decide you aren't gay anymore."

"You serious?" Sora mumbled, staring up with half-lidded eyes.

"Yeah. Besides, what are you going to do about Kairi? You can't have us both Sora. I refuse to 'experiment' when you're screwing some girl. I don't know where the dirty whore's been."

"She's not a whore!"

"So you say, but I'm not convinced. But seriously, think about it some before coming back and talking with me. I want to know if I'll definitely need drop all hope or not."

"Alright…" Sora trailed off, slipping back into his own thoughts.

"Ok, so let's go eat now. I bet Demy thinks we've ditched him. Come on." Axel grinned wickedly down at Sora, grabbing his ass.

"Heeeey!!" whined the little brunette.

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SIG was known to be one of the best schools in the world. If someone graduated from SIG then they could get into any collage or any job they pleased, so it wasn't surprising that all of the Onaga children were being put through it. Riku Onaga was the fourth and final of the current generation to be admitted. But by some weird twisted fate, Riku abhorred the school and its university that was next door. Sure, he did great and liked the people, but it wasn't any different than being at home and dealing with hellish stick-up-the-ass father—especially with Kadaj rooming with him. It was for that main reason that he tried to absorb himself in the social lives of others and egged on his fan club.

Tonight, though, seemed to be one of those night where he was just getting more and more frustrated with the stupidity around him. Tidus was sitting across from him at a small table in the cafeteria with his dinner.

"So the pictures were good?" Riku asked in confusion.

"Yeah. Damn sexy. Almost pornographic. Hell, if I didn't have Yuna and I weren't myself, those pictures would have turned me gay," The blonde replied before taking a sip out of a MONSTER.

"Then why do you want to make his life hell?" The silverette laced his hands together and rested his chin on them.

"Well, I guess I don't want to ruin his life, per say… But I do want to screw Porcupine over. That guy's face gets on my nerves." Tidus waved a fry around in the air as he spoke, then violently bit it in half. "It's just that Sora will probably get caught in the cross fire, you know? Besides, if the other guys like him well enough, we'll just take him in and pick up the pieces or something."

"You're a real ass sometimes, you know?"

"Well so are you. I seriously can't top the whole fight between Kadaj and Seifer, though. I swear, that was gold."

"That's not something to joke about. If my dad finds out I'm behind that, then I might as well already be castrated and impaled. Kadaj is his little precious baby."

"UUUH!!" Tidus cried, shivering. "I can't even stand the thought of that."

"Exactly."

"Look, dude, I'm blowing this place, but if you see Sora, seriously, try to get him in the group." Grabbing his tray, Tidus stood and began walking towards the exit. "See ya!" Riku rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. He had group politics to comply with, and he already knew that most of the others would play along with Tidus. He watched as the blonde left the cafeteria but didn't leave himself. He was personally debating whether a piece of cake would be a good or bad thing at the moment.

When a certain brunette entered the cafeteria he quickly pushed the thoughts away. He had business to attend to. He sat at the table alone until Sora, Demyx and Axel had run through the line and grabbed a table. After a few more minutes, he stood and headed over to the table, plastering one of his signature smiles on his lips.

"Hey, you're Sora, right?" Riku asked, almost genuinely. All three at the table looked at him strangely. Demyx's eyes had grown to the size of saucers, and Axel was glaring daggers. Sora, on the other hand, was staring like a deer in headlights with a deep red blush painted across his cheeks. Riku smirked slightly at this. Another fanboy.

"U-uh, yeah?" Sora finally managed to get out.

"You're the one that took those pictures of Tidus? I heard they were good. Do you have them with you?" Riku asked, cocking his head to the side. Sora blushed deeper looking away before answering.

"I don't have the camera with me," Sora said quietly.

"Oh, that's too bad. Maybe you could drop by our table tomorrow at lunch and show us? I'd really like to see them, and I'm sure the others would too." The silverette released an almost blinding smile.

"U-ummm…" Sora started.

"Forget it," Axel interrupted. "He's not going anywhere near that table of sharks."

"We're not sharks. We're humans," Riku retorted.

"Yeah, right. Funny you of all people would say that," Axel spat.

"I'm not here to start something, _Axel_. I'm here out of curiosity as to Tidus's pictures."

"You sure about that?" Axel said, standing up. Sora grabbed Axel's arm.

"_Axel_," the brunette hissed. "Shut up. We don't need a scene."

"Sora's right," Demyx chimed in, grabbing Axel's other side. "Love and Peace, baby, love and peace."

"Sorry, Riku. Uhm, I'll bring it by tomorrow, I guess. That is if Axel doesn't kidnap me." Sora laughed slightly, embarrassed by his friend. Riku nodded.

"That sounds great. I'll see you then." With business done, Riku turned to get that nice big piece of devil's food cake he had been craving all day for.

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Sora sat in the dressing room in complete and utter horror. His day hadn't been the greatest so far and it was only the start of his photo class. First Axel had come in all miffed and Demyx seemed moody as well, with large bags under his eyes. Both had been uncompanionable. Axel had even flat out refused to do his make-up like he promised the previous day. Namine hadn't even shown up that morning and when he caught her in the halls, she said that Kairi was throwing up and having a horrible time. So not only was Sora worried about his pissed off older friends and a possibly pregnant Kairi, but now he had what was in his hands to worry about as well.

He stared blankly at his 3D art project, the main dress finished just the day before. They couldn't be serious, could they? But they had to have been since the girls were out there tittering and telling him to hurry it up. Sora swallowed hard before finally working up the nerve to change. He had no other choice, really. Quickly, Sora stripped of his school uniform and pulled on the dress carefully.

He stared at himself in the mirror and cringed. After successfully calming the urge to hyperventilate and tear the dress to shreds, he moved out of the small room. The flock of girls around him squealed with delight and started pulling on him left and right. Things were shoved on his head and various accessories were placed on his arms. One girl even dared to get low enough and shove his feet into platform boots.

When all was done, Sora was shoved onto a pedestal with the too other guys, Aoi quite happy in his dress and Spencer very happy in his _male_ clothing. The teacher giggled at the site. "Alright my little chickadees! Today, as you might have guessed is another one of those career options test shoots! We're going with one of those JRockers themes. Your goal: capture their feminine qualities the best you can. I want to have a hard time trying to tell if they're boys or not!"

"But I'm not girly!!" Sora cried, waving his arms around. Several cameras flashed in his eyes.

"Exactly why I chose you, Sora, dear. It's a challenge. Now get to it boys!" Sora groaned as he was pulled into some ridiculous pose with the other two boys. This was going to be a long day for him, he knew it already.

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**Author's Note:** SO, has anyone realized the significance behind Tidus's last name yet? It's a pun and figurative… First one to get it right will get something special thrown into the story, just for them. I'm apt to do these little things from time to time—I get a kick out of it—so watch out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **SOOOOOO sorry that this wasn't out earlier. I got buggered down by all those end of the third nine weeks projects. I don't know why every teacher thinks it's a good idea to give a project at the same time. I mean seriously, you'd think they'd realize that every other teacher is assigning stuff and that the work might not be as good. Oh well. Not to mention, I had the state's writing test a couple of weeks ago and was and still am loaded with writing for English. OH! For fans of both of my stories, please review on both. I don't mind stalkers, really.

_Anyway, _I've been hit with horribly good inspiration for this story and my other after watching all of the cutscenes from FF7: Crisis Core. However, I don't think the major plot developments will really take root for another few chapters. Oh well!

Tysonkaiexperiment—You are certainly the first to pull the part of Tidus. But yeah. Sora is pretty girly. He daydreamed of ballroom dancing with Kairi. It may just be me, but most guys I know my age (which is also Sora's) wouldn't be daydreaming about that with a girl. One of my female friends maybe... XD

Lifes.Lover—You were so close, yet so far. It's sad really. And believe it or not, but I've never been taught that stuff by my English teachers to my knowledge, with the exception of the capitalization. I knew that one, but I over looked it. It makes me not like my teachers, now. Can't even teach stupid possession rules. Yes, that's really all the AkuOra is in this. It's a plot catalyst. Mmm... those are sinfully tasty things, they are.

Lavender—Haha. My English teacher was reading that for some class he had a few months back. I've never read "Uglies" before, though. This whole plot was actually born from the genetics and DNA unit in my science class and some Gravitation fictions I read a couple years ago about a class based society. But yeah, that's what the dividers are.

Brennend—Why yes... they are turning out interesting. Knowing me, though... someone's going to fall off the deep end soon.

DramaQueen1193—You are so close! You've got half of it right. Haha. No one's even touched on the other pun in his name besides thinking there was something familiar about it, and I wasn't the one to really make it. If no one gets the other half I'll give the prize whole prize to you, so tell me a pairing you'd like to see, any at all. No matter the pairing, I can make it work for a short time, after all, this plot s about to go into the twilight zone. Oh _**And I have officially decided that Roxas will not be appearing in person in this story. I have a few ideas tossing around in my head for use of his name, but not a flesh and blood character**_

Elizabeth Evermore—For the love of my sanity, my dear Ryu-chan, don't leave one word reviews. Please say something halfway sensible, or I'll take Kumo-chan away again.

Stu-P0t—That's really random. I've never seen Jenova compared to... salami before. Haha. I'm glad you feel that way about the characters. Sometimes, I really don't know whether to hate Sora or not either. Oh well.

**Disclaimer:** Damn. That was a long Author's note. But that's really all I own. Yes, I own a bunch of rambling and a plot. That's it folks! These characters aren't mine! So sad, yes, I know.

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Sora knew something was up when he made it to the 3D art studio without incident. Axel was nowhere in sight in the hallways, and it did nothing but make Sora feel queasy. Things were not going well at all that day. Stepping into the studio, the brunette quickly spotted a moping and very… wet looking Axel. He slowly made his way over to the older boy's desk.

"Axel? Why are you wet?" Sora asked carefully. The red head glared up at the brunette, causing Sora to shrink back slightly. He wasn't used to being on the receiving end of the glares he gave Riku and Tidus.

"Oh, nothing really. Just a little _accident_ during practice today on the stage. Wouldn't believe how convincing _Selphie_ looked when she _accidentally_ set something on fire and sent the _sprinklers_ on me when I was the _only_ one on stage," Axel huffed, turning away to glare at the wall.

"Oh…" Sora said, a little stunned. He moved to the other side of the table and grabbed the red head's hand. "Look, don't let it get to you. Things will work out in the end. Besides, it'll only get worse if you let them know it affects you. Just tough it out for a little while." A slight smile had taken it's place on Sora's lips as he looked at Axel in what he hoped was a comforting way.

"I know, Sora. Thanks," Axel murmured, squeezing Sora's hand back. He turned to his younger friend with a small endearing smile on his lips.

"Maybe you should ask if you can go and change into some dry clothes," Sora suggested. Axel simply shook his head.

"Nah. I don't want to leave you here all alone without someone to throw funny looks at across the room," Axel said before actually taking in what Sora was wearing. A smirk quickly took the place of the small smile. "Actually, I don't really wanna leave unless you come with me." The red head pulled teasingly on the hem of the dress that Sora still wore. The brunette suddenly remembered that he was not in fact in his school uniform but his 3D art project. A deep blush stained his cheeks, both from the fact that he was in a dress and what Axel was implying.

"Yeah. I think I'll ask to go get another uniform from my dorm too. I left my other one in the Photo studio," Sora said, his tongue darting out nervously. "I need to work on this today anyway."

"You look really good in it. When it's done, you should wear it. Come clean my room or something," Axel murmured, clenching Sora's hand a little tighter.

"I'll think about it," Sora said, a small smirk of his own forming. "I'll ask the teacher if we can go when she comes in."

"Alright, then. But we should ask together. She might look at you weird if you ask for both of us," Axel teased. A moment later, the teacher strolled into the classroom. Sora intercepted her on her way to her desk. She gave a twice over before smirking.

"You look excellent, Sora. It really suits you. The photo shoot must have gone really well," she said. Axel moved up behind Sora, a sheepish grin on his face. His red locks dripped onto his already soaked through uniform top. "Axel, what on earth happened?"

"Uh… I got sprinkled on during play practice?" the red head replied, burying his hand in his hair. "Can I go back to my dorm and get dried of and changed? I don't want to be miserable in wet clothes all day."

"Can I go get another uniform too? I didn't have time to change back into mine. It's still in the Photo room. I don't wanna go back there, though. I'd make a fool of myself all over again," Sora added. The teacher sighed heavily.

"Ok. Fine. I want you two back in thirty minutes, though. No fooling around. You two still have a good ways to go, and you can't work while wearing your dress, Sora. Now scat."

Axel smirked slightly as the teacher continued past them. The two teens walked out of the room slowly, but as soon as they were a good two meters from the classroom, Axel grabbed Sora's hand and ran for the exit closest to their dorms, only stopping to change from indoor shoes to outdoor. They slowed down as they neared the actual dorm.

"My room or yours first?" Axel said.

"How about I get clothes and change in yours?" Sora proposed, raising an eyebrow.

"Sounds good to me, but let's try to stay away from anything too heavy, ok? We have less than thirty minutes."

"Right, right. I got ya," Sora said before darting up the stairs to his dorm. Axel took the stairs a little slower. He entered his room, leaving the door open for Sora, and pulled out a towel. After he threw off his jacket and tugged the buttons undone on his undershirt, he grabbed for his towel and started to dry his hair and upper body. After a moment, Axel felt an almost hesitant touch at the button of his pants. Soft, warm lips met his neck as the button was undone and the zipper was unzipped.

"Sora," Axel said, a slight warning in his voice. "Let's keep our hands away from that region? I'm all for skipping to fix the problems those touches might cause, but you still really haven't told me what you're going to do about Kairi, and there fore, not worth getting a demeanor over."

"Look, Kairi's kinda sick today. I'm a little worried. I'll check her out after school and find out where we stand with each other and get back with you. Even so, can't we just be friends with benefits or something today?" Sora said, moving his hands up Axel's chest. The red head groaned slightly at the touches.

"Sora. Take a step back before you get a wet ass print on the front of your dress," the older boy chided softly. "I don't feel like trying to come up with some half ass excuse to explain it." Sora giggled slightly and pulled back. Axel dropped his boxers and quickly grabbed for another pair. A slight blush rose on Sora's cheeks at the sight of Axel's naked back and swiftly turned around.

When Axel had secured dry boxers and pants to his lower regions, he moved to Sora. Cautiously, the red head placed one hand on the brunette's shoulder and the other on the zipper at the back of the dress. He leaned down to Sora's ear. He breathed on it for a moment as he slowly dragged the zipper down. After a moment he licked the brunette's ear and whispered, "Just returning the favor."

Sora shivered and turned around to face Axel as the dress began to slip off his shoulders. He let it fall to the ground around his ankles before slowly stepping out of it. Sora stood there and examined Axel for a moment, letting his eyes roam the older's body. He cursed not having his camera for once. "You know, you were right when you said that you weren't that bad looking without a shirt on. You look good 'cept for the fact that you're almost too skinny. Jeez, Ax."

"So-rry for having to actually diet. They always put me up to tall, dark, deadly, and anorexic parts in Theater," Axel shot back, a grin growing on his face. Sora laughed and grabbed for his pants.

"Seriously, you should try grease again someday. Might do you some good."

"Nah. I'm good. It might make me throw-up after so long, then I'd be bulimic too. It's not good to have two eating disorders at once, you know? I might die if I go that way." Sora busted out in giggles at the joke, just barely being able to pull on his shirt through them. Axel just smirked at the brunette as he pulled on his jacket, then moved over to his mirror to try to salvage his hair for the day. The red head did what he could then moved away from the mirror and turned back to Sora, who was now seated on Demyx's bed. 

"Ready to go?" the brunette asked, swinging his legs. Axel nodded and Sora grabbed his dress up before the two made their way back to the studio.

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"Oh, my gawd! Have you heard? Apparently that hot shot science student, Marluxia from the college, gets it up for Professor Ice Age!" one of the boys at Riku's lunch table exclaimed. It didn't come as much of a surprise for the silverette as it did some of the other people. His older brother, Loz, had hinted at it quite blatantly when they had shared Professor Vexen's class a few years prior. And now, according to Loz, little Marly had him again as his Biology professor.

"Well, you wanna know what I 'erd?" Wakka asked from across the table.

"Shoot," Tidus said, leaning forward.

"Well ya know how he's got him a second time around? I heard he's been sleeping with the ol' coot to get better grades. You guys know what kinna teach he is, ya?" Everyone around the table nodded, half of them having already had him or were currently going through his class that year.

Riku had some doubts about the grades part of the rumor. It was simply because that there actually were a few people that were talented and smart enough to get an A in Vexen's class. Riku was a part of that small group, as was Kadaj and his other brother, Yazoo. No one went after Riku with those kinds of rumors, though. His brains were chalked up to his father screwing around with his genes, which was very likely since Loz had proved that there was a stupidity gene in the family. So all in all, Riku figured that Marluxia was probably screwing Vexen for the hell of screwing Vexen.

The table fell into regular conversation from there. There was a lot of talk about injuring teachers, the next tournament a sports team had to enter, and love interests. Riku stayed quiet, along with one or two others that just didn't have anything to say. They went relatively undisturbed for about five minutes when they all fell silent. Everyone's gaze focused over Riku's shoulder. He silverette turned slightly to see the spiky haired photographer behind him. 

"Hey, Riku," Sora said timidly, a light blush on his cheeks. "You said you wanted to see the pictures of Tidus, right?" The brunette held up his digital camera, turning it on.

"Yeah. I'm really curious," Riku said, grabbing for it. He briefly looked over Sora's shoulder to see Axel standing a few feet away, a scowl etched deeply in his features. Sora relinquished the camera over to the school idol. The silverette turned the camera on and began flipping through the pictures. After a few, he looked back up at Sora. "These are really good. Pull up a seat, I think you're going to be here a while."

"Uhm, sure," Sora said, the blush growing slightly darker on his cheeks. Riku smiled at how simply adorable Sora was being. The kid seriously needed to work on how he accepted compliments. The brunette grabbed a chair from the next table over as Riku made everyone scoot over to form room for Sora. Riku went back to flipping through the pictures when the younger boy was seated next to him. He really did think they were good. Hell they were amazing. It's like they weren't really Tidus at all.

When he was done, Riku grabbed for the attention of the person by him and made him flip through the pictures. That started a slow circle around the table. There were several gasps and compliments thrown at Sora. After a while, the camera met with Kuja, a senior with serious vanity issues. He flipped through them slowly, with a critical eye. After a while, he said, "These are good. Is there anyway you could do a shoot with me?"

"Oo! Me too!" called out another of the boys.

"I can, but I'm not really available until Tuesday. I promised I'd hang out with my friends and brother this weekend," Sora supplied, blushing slightly.

"That's right! It's Friday today, isn't it?" Riku said, leaning back. "Kadaj is coming back on Monday, guys. Dad wants me to go out with Yazoo tonight and pick him up from the hospital and take him home. So don't come crying to me, if Axel goes all nutso on you for hogging Sora. I'm going to be tending to my brother and his lovely, fixed nose."

"Axel wouldn't do that," Sora pouted. "He doesn't do a lot of things that he looks like he'd do. Not to mention, he probably wouldn't want to screw over my grades in Photo." 

"I bet he would if it were the right person," Tidus drawled. "He's really over protective of you. If thought you were being threatened by someone, I bet he'd kill the guy."

"Axel's not really that kind of guy..." Sora tried to defend, only for the bell to end lunch sound. The brunette sighed, aggravatedly. Not only had he not spent lunch with Axel when he needed the companianship most, but he'd also not eaten anything.

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Sora rapped cautiously at Kairi and Namine's dorm door. He knew that Namine wouldn't be around for a little while yet, so he knew it was safe to talk to Kairi. It was a couple of minutes before Kairi herself answered the door. She didn't look too good at the moment. Her hair was messy and her eyes were slightly red. 

"Hey, Kai. How you feeling?" Sora asked, timidly.

"Like crap. You wanna come in?" Kairi answered.

"Uh, yeah actually," Sora said, rubbing the back of his head. Kairi nodded and opened the door enough for Sora to move in. He took a seat on Namine's bed. Kairi returned to her own.

"What did you want to talk about?" Kairi asked. She looked like she simply wanted to go to sleep.

"You're not pregnant, right?" Sora asked. It came off a little more eagerly than he had intended it to be.

"No, Sora, I'm not. Had my period last week."

"Oh. That's good then. I was really freaking out about it all day." Kairi giggled at the statement. "But it really made me think. What ground are we really on? I mean, if you were pregnant, would we have lasted?" Kairi looked at him straight in the eyes.

"I really like you, Sora. I mean, we really should go out. I want to call what we have official." Sora nodded. It was what he thought he'd get from the girl.

"I'm a little hesitant. I mean, I'm worried what Axel and Demyx might do if we suddenly were an item."

"Who cares what they think, Sora. We're the only ones who should care about our relationship." Sora nodded again.

"I want to be an item too, Kairi, but let me think it over tonight, ok?" Kairi sighed heavily.

"Fine. Go ahead. I can't go out tonight, as you can probably tell. Go have twice as much fun with out me," Kairi said, lying back down.

"You know, I'd kiss you, but I don't want to catch your cold," Sora teased as he opened the door.

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Seguchi University for the Gifted was located only a brisk walk away from Seguchi Institute for the Gifted. It also just so happened, that the dorms were located only fifteen minutes away by foot and easily accessible to students from either facility. For that reason, Sora often indulged in visiting his older brother at his dorm whenever he had a problem. It was this fact that drove Cloud to near insanity. He didn't know how much more he could handle his little brother popping up whenever he was about to do something _interesting_ with his boyfriend. Sora's problems seemed so trivial compared to what would happen if the squirt ended up being the cause of yet another boyfriend leaving him, but he had high hopes for this one.

"So what should I do Cloud?" Sora asked, sitting on the floor of Cloud's dorm across from his bed. Cloud was lying languidly across it, the arms of his lover wrapped gently around him. They hadn't been doing anything too bad when his brother had barged in, but Cloud mourned the loss of what could have transpired.

"Your stuck between two people, huh? Well, who do you like more?" Cloud replied, probing for more information from his brother.

"That's just it! Axel's my best friend and I've been messing around with Kairi for a long time. Since just before we got back into the school year. I don't really know. I care for both a lot," Sora murmured a bit dejectedly.

"Alright, then. Let me put it this way then: Which one makes you want to drop your pants faster? Kairi or Axel?" Cloud's lover chuckled slightly, at the words but said nothing more. Sora remained quiet. After a while, Cloud spoke up again. "Look, Sora, if you think that there may be a possibility that you'll ever leave Axel for a girl, don't even bother going with him. It's ten times harder for someone to have the person the love ripped away from them because they'll never be enough for that someone because they're the same gender. Trust me, I know."

"I guess you're right. But I really don't want to miss out on what could be you know? I already told him I want to experiment with him," Sora said, shifting on the ground slightly.

"You didn't. Damn, Sora. You're really working yourself into deep shit. You need to learn a lot faster than I did that people are not for your own personal use and gain. Just because Mom and Dad have such an open relationship and practically prance their affairs around each other does not mean that we should follow in their footsteps. It took me eighteen and a half years and two cases of Gonorrhea before I figured it out for myself. Don't slut around," Cloud practically exploded, despite how deceivingly calm his voice had just been. Sora only shuttered at the images his brother put in his head.

"Sora," Cloud's lover said, sitting up just enough to see over Cloud himself, "What exactly do you feel when you look at Kairi? When you're with her?"

"Uh, excited? Turned on? I don't really know, but I usually want to get out after a while. Kairi's really good and all, but I don't like hanging around that much afterwards because I know she'll try to get words out of me that I'm not ready to say," Sora replied slowly.

"I don't think you really like her then. It's best not to prolong the situation. Terminate it as soon as possible. What about with Axel?" The dark haired lover said.

"I... don't really feel anything for him on a passing glance, but when I really look at him, I can't really help but think he's kinda cute. But I've been noticing that on a bunch of other guys too, lately," Sora said quietly.

"Mmmm. I see. Stay away form anything serious with him either. Your hormones are raging a little too strongly right now. You're being lusty and it's better for you to not open the door to one nightstands. Stay away from sex until you can find someone to commit to."

"But Leon! You and Cloud sleep together all the time and Cloud is like... commitment challenged!" Sora squeaked out. Leon only chuckled and pulled Cloud closer to his body.

"I resent that!" Cloud said, snuggling into his lover's warm embrace.

"You overlook one, very important aspect of our relationship though, Sora. Cloud and I have been dating for about a year and a quarter, and we didn't start screwing around until our six months, was it? Besides, I don't really think you're that mature mentally to handle all the results that come with excessive sex." Cloud laughed into Leon's shoulder. His lover wasn't exactly good with people but was taking a psychology class to better understand himself and the world. Other than that, the great Leon Leonheart was a strange mixture between a Science and an English student. He was trying to pull off a double major, despite how evil SUG was known to be about it's courses.

Cloud supposed that was one of the things he found so attractive about Leon. That wild determination to get done what he wanted done, no matter the backbreaking work it'd take to get it was appealing. And despite all that work, Leon still managed time for his precious little Cloud. It was comforting to Cloud that he finally managed to snag a nice rock after so long.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sora sighed. The brat had been utterly beaten down by the combined wisdom of his elders. Cloud snickered a little before finally threatening his brother to get lost. He had a giant, sexy teddy bear to ravish.

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Riku hated hospitals. They smelt worse than the labs he was forced to work in at school and at home. But what he liked even less was his brother Kadaj. It was obvious that the silverette didn't want to be anywhere in the vicinity of his so-called twin. And his father was there to boot. Things weren't working in Riku's favor that night, that was definitely for sure. Yazoo shifted slightly at the growing tensions in the room. The three men in a room together was never good, and the setting only made it worse.

"It took you two long enough to get here," Sephiroth said in a rather icy tone. It was clear by the extra little twinge in the older man's voice that he was certainly well beyond displeased. Riku averted his defiant gaze from his father's terrifying eyes to Kadaj. The other teen snorted the best he could with a bandaged nose.

"Sorry, father. I was needed at the sports team project. They needed extra hands and lab rats because Seifer and Kadaj were out. Loz volunteered me. Today's studies took longer than I had expected them to," Riku said, removing as much emotion from his voice as he possibly could. His father had never been particularly loving to him, so he saw no real reason to be kind to the man.

"At least you have a legitimate excuse this time. Kadaj has been signed out. Take him and leave. I need to return to SUG for my next class. I can't afford to loose those monsters unattended on today's lab, not with what we're using," Sephiroth said, standing and grabbing his brief case. The towering man had taken a job at SUG as a professor in exchange for funding for his scientific study. Sephiroth, at just barely forty, had made a very influential name for himself in the scientific world, especially among the geneticists. His father, Dr. Hojo, was also a famed geneticist but was known to many illegal things. In an attempt to distance himself from the old man, Sephiroth had changed the family name to Onaga. He was determined to keep at least one child in the field of genetics and the others at least well known in the scientific community.

"Dad, Loz told me to remind you that your wedding anniversary is coming up. He doesn't want to see mother crying again this year, and neither do I," Yazoo said softly as his father neared. If Riku had to guess why he and his brothers hadn't turned out as complete bastards, it was because of their loving mother. She was the most loving woman in the world, and he had no idea what Sephiroth had done to deserve her. He figured that the man's marriage to Aerith must have been arranged by Hojo.

"May I suggest Galbana Lilies? Mom loves those things," Riku murmured. Sephiroth turned to face Riku.

"Why? She has enough flowers, don't you think? She's practically a botanist," the stony father asked, seeming genuinely confused. The man had social problems. It wasn't rare to see Aerith somewhere crying when she thought Sephiroth or her sons wouldn't find out, simply because Sephiroth's Social IQ was under 60. That was another thing the family blamed on Hojo.

"But she doesn't have Galbana Lilies, and they're very rare and expensive. She's been hinted for a few months now that she's wanted to try to grow some since she was a girl," Riku explained. His father was hopeless sometimes. Sephiroth sighed and turned back to the door.

"I'll see what I can do," He said as he moved past Yazoo. Shortly after he left, a nurse entered with a wheelchair and moved Kadaj into it. The three brothers were escorted out of the building. Yazoo left the twins and the nurse just outside the front doors as he went to get his car. Once everyone was seated and they were down the road a few minutes, Kadaj spoke for the first after his brothers arrived.

"So what have I missed at school? What's going to happen to Seifer?" Kadaj's voice was more nasally than his brothers were used to. The bandages on his nose hadn't come off yet, and wouldn't for another day.

"You haven't missed much. Only major thing was a two-day lab. And as for Seifer, I have no clue. I hear the ruling is still out on that one," Riku answered nonchalantly.

" The dirty little big is going to pay if I ever get the chance to work with him in the project again," Kadaj huffed, turning to stare out the window.

"I think they thought you might, Kadaj. It doesn't look like Seifer will be returning to the program at long as you're working on it," Yazoo said. Kadaj only grumbled at the reply. Riku could already tell that it really would be a long week.


	4. Chapter 4

"Riiiiiiiiikuuuuuuuu," moaned Kadaj in his rather annoying nasal voice

**Author's Note:** Wow. I don't think there are words to describe how disappointed I am. This story was doing really great with getting reviews, but the chapter only got one. That's really unacceptable. I usually like two at the least. Read the bottom note to see how I'll remedy this. In other news, this has been so late because of the evil end of the year. Tons of projects and tests and what not. About the only thing other than this that got written was a research paper and Fetters of War. Go check that out sometime. Other than that, I've been reading a lot of FF7 fics lately, which definitly will warp my stories. Phaha. Anyway, some more character developments in this chapter, taking focus off Sora and on to the others. Yay!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned KH I'd make it one of those nice yaoi dating games. Mmmmmmm.

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"Riiiiiiiiikuuuuuuuu," moaned Kadaj in his rather annoying nasally voice. Riku heaved a deep sigh and massaged his temples. His so-called twin was beginning to grate on his nerves with all the whining and pestering he'd been doing over the last several hours.

"What?" Riku finally spat, shooting his brother a rather dirty look.

"I miss mother," Kadaj said quietly. "She should be here with me."

"You_ know_ that mom had to go to Gongoga. She's been talking about it for _months_ and they're really looking forward to having her there," Riku scolded. "You don't want to ruin that for her, do you? I really don't think she'd be happy to have to stay behind and miss such a great opportunity. Besides, she's probably worrying about you right now. Get over it, you baby."

"I'm not a baby!" Kadaj pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. "And you don't have to make me feel bad like that."

"You deserve it. OK? You've been whining all day. It's getting really annoying, alright?"

"Riku, you're being an ass."

"Well you're being a spoiled brat. Shut up, alright? You can't always get what you want."

"Shut the frick up!"

"You know what? That's it. I'm leaving. I really don't think I can stand being in here for another minute," Riku snapped. He had spent every hour with Kadaj since they'd gotten home the previous night and he seriously thought he was about to go insane. Kadaj's voice alone was giving him a migraine.

"You can't leave! I'll tell dad! You can't leave me alone!"

"Yazoo is a freaking loser with no social life. He's bound to be here somewhere. If you're so desperate for attention, go bug him," Riku almost yelled. He grabbed his iPod off his desk and left the room. Kadaj was up after him in a flash. Riku tried to move faster when he saw his twin coming after him, but he couldn't escape. For all of Riku's genetic enhancements, Kadaj was still faster and slightly stronger. Just like their father. Riku swore, however, to overpower them both someday.

"You're not leaving me! You're my brother! My twin! You're supposed to care about me! You're supposed to be here for me!" Kadaj snapped, yelling loud enough to make Riku cringe. Riku tried to tug his arm away, but Kadaj only strengthened his grip.

"I'm not mom! And honestly, I'd rather be anywhere but here with you," Riku said quietly. He didn't care raise his voice any louder, lest he provoke Kadaj any further.

"You're such a bastard," Kadaj said, a look of deep hurt in his eyes. He slammed Riku into the wall and raised his fist. Riku's head had connected with the wall hard enough to cause him to see black spots. Kadaj's fist was preparing to connect with his stomach, and he knew that if he tried to block it and fought back, he'd walk away with the worst of it in the end. Riku gasped and pressed himself farther into the wall after the fist made contact. Kadaj's fist pulled back for another blow but was stopped before he could do anything. Yazoo had apparently heard the yelling and was now holding Kadaj back.

"Riku, get out of here. Now," the older teen said as he forced Kadaj to let go of Riku's arm. The youngest of the three nodded and slipped out of the spot he was cornered in and ran down the hall. He didn't stop until he was down the stairs and deep within the kitchen. The silverette took a moment to breathe before collapsing onto one of the stools at the counter. He buried his head in his hands and took a few more deep, shuddering breaths. It was a few minutes before he heard scuffling around from the kitchen entryway.

"I locked Kadaj in your room. It should hold him for a while. You alright?" Yazoo asked, moving behind his baby brother to massage his shoulders.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I think I'm going to get a bruise on my stomach, but that'll heal in no time," Riku muttered, refusing to remove his head from his hands. What he spoke about the bruise was no lie, as they had discovered many times over. No matter how dark the bruise or bad the injury, it was gone in only a week or so. It normally took two days for black bruises to go away.

"What happened?" Yazoo asked in a gentle, parenting tone. If there was anything he hated about Yazoo, it was that parent tone. It was more creepy than comforting most of the time, but he guessed that that was one of the things his older brother had gotten from their mother.

"I got after Kadaj for whining too much. I said I was going to leave because I'd had enough. He just started freaking out on me, saying stuff about how I couldn't leave him. I think he's getting paranoid with mom gone."

"You know my opinion? I think that either his pain meds are getting to him or dad's been slipping mind-altering drugs into his food again," Yazoo said, finding a knot in Riku's shoulder. He began working it out, glad that at least Riku was starting to relax to his touch.

"Why the hell does Father do this to us? Really. It should be considered child abuse to use his own children as test subjects. He spent a good fifteen minutes alone with Kadaj today. I bet he was saying something to work him up."

"Well, as long as we live with or near him, we have to deal. He hasn't really done anything drastic to me, but I know he has with you two. You just need to ride it out a few more years. Then you'll be home free."

"That's the problem! I don't think he's ever going to let me go! Kadaj is his precious little baby, but I'm his precious experiment. He'll want to observe me my whole life," Riku spat. Yazoo sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Just keep in mind that there's no way for him to legally keep you around after you turn eighteen."

"Yeah. That's the only hope I have," Riku sighed. He just wanted to go back to school. At least there was some peace and quiet there.

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Leon pulled himself from his bed, albeit reluctantly, to take a shower. He was sweaty and sticky and stinky and felt generally disgusting. But he didn't regret it for the world. He'd roll in blood and mud if it meant he could spend a night like that with Cloud more often. Somehow Cloud had managed to get a hold of a pair of fuzzy handcuffs and the night had spurred on from there. As the tall brunette stood, a drowsy hand reached out to grasp whatever skin it could. Leon turned back to his lover, whom was gazing up at him questioningly.

"Where are you going so early?" Cloud rasped out. His throat was still raw from the previous night.

"It's almost noon, and we promised Sora and his friends and Yuffie, Tifa, Vincent, and Irvine that we'd go hang out today. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be covered with the scent of sex when we meet up," Leon said, his own voice a little worse for wear. Cloud groaned, throwing his hand over his face.

"Damn. I totally forgot about that. I wonder if I can even walk. You were really rough last night."

"You were the one to bring handcuffs back," Leon stated matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. You're right there. I guess I did bring this upon myself. But, then again, I'm up for more kinky sex whenever you are," Cloud said, grinning goofily up at Leon.

"Anyway, you should probably test your legs to make sure they work. I would like to cancel before it's time to leave," Leon said, turning around. He pulled on a pair of boxers and a bathrobe before heading out into the hall towards the bathroom. That was the thing he liked least about the college dorms. There weren't any private bathrooms; they were all public. When he reached the shower stalls, he stripped of the bathrobe and boxers and turned the water on warm. As he waited for the water to warm up, he went in search of a towel.

He slipped into the warm shower, enjoying the feel of it on his muscles. After a few moments, Leon reached for the school supplied shampoo and began lathering it in his hands. It wasn't the best stuff, but he didn't really care. He was planning on taking a nice, long shower. Maybe fifteen minutes if he could force it that long. As he was lathering his hair, a hand grabbed his waist. Cloud's legs were working after all. He turned around after rinsing his hair and pulled the slightly smaller male close to his body. Cloud leaned up slightly, placing his lips on Leon's.

Leon slipped his tongue into Cloud's mouth, exploring the wet cavern. Cloud slipped his hands into Leon's hair, pressing harder into the kiss. The blonde took a step closer, pressing their bodies together under the water. Leon moaned slightly at the contact. The brunette pulled away from Cloud's lips and took up residence at the blonde's ear. Cloud moaned then ground his hips into Leon's. Leon simply growled and threw Cloud up against the wall, intent on ravishing the blonde thoroughly.

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Sora rushed down the steps, practically giddy at the fact that his lessons for the day were over. Because of the way SIG was designed, students had an option to take a class on Saturdays for four hours. Sora had chosen Competition Chorus, of all things. But it wasn't really like he was a bad singer. He was pretty average for SIG and prized his lovely tenor voice. The only bad thing about that particular class was that he had to sing for the whole time, practically, and his voice was usually shot afterwards.

Axel and Demyx were waiting at the bottom of the steps for him, playing some form of cards with wads of cash in the middle. Judging by the look on their faces, Axel was losing terribly. Demyx had a smug grin stretching from ear to ear. Axel, on the other hand, was sporting a scowl. They placed their cards down and Axel howled, grabbing the money.

"In your _face_!" Axel called out cheerily, pocketing the money. Demyx was beginning to tear up, obviously having just lost a lot of money. Sora slowed down just a few feet away from them. Axel noticed him right away, standing up. "Yo! Sora!"

"Hey guys," Sora said, looking between the two.

"Today is a great day! I finally whooped Demyx's ass in 21. I've got a shit load of money," Axel exclaimed, slinging an arm around Sora's shoulder. The brunette grinned up at his friend.

"Really? Wow. But that's too bad Dem, maybe you shouldn't bet in money anymore," Sora said, looking over at the sulking teen. Suddenly Demyx stood up straight, a fierce look in his tear filled eyes.

"It was luck! Pure unadultered luck! You're not going to beat me ever again! Just wait until Luxord comes over tonight! You'll lose everything! _Everything_! Even your freaking _socks_!" Demyx practically screamed. Axel simply raised an eyebrow to the fit.

"I think Demy's gone off the deep end," he said flatly.

"Just how much did you win?" Sora asked as Demyx began kicking holes in the ground

"About five hundred. Give or take a twenty," Axel said, moving to grab a hold of Demyx. The dirty blonde thrashed about wildly as he was grabbed by the arm.

"Damn! That's a fortune!" Sora said, falling in step with Axel.

"Yup. And I'll pay for everything you and me do today," Axel quipped, swinging his arm around Sora's shoulders.

"Hey! That's no fair! What about me? I'll need to eat and buy things too!" Demyx cried, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Get Tifa or someone else to. I'm sure you can make them feel sorry for you," Axel laughed.

"Axel," Sora murmured warningly.

"Alright, fine. I'll pay for you too, Demy," Axel said, sighing in defeat. Yelling in triumph, Demyx ran ahead, spinning and making a general fool of himself. They continued, on their mostly merry way, and reached the meeting place right on time. SIG's soccer field was deserted, as it typically was that time of year. The school's soccer team tended to spend more time away at games than at home practicing. As a result, it was left open for the students to use if they pleased. There were four people on the far end of the field. Upon seeing them, Demyx ran towards them, one of the four people running just as fast. The two collided halfway through the field. Demyx picked up the smaller figure and spun it around.

By the time Axel and Sora reached Demyx, he'd been tackled to the ground and was wrestling with the smaller figure. It was now obvious that the figure was small girl with short black hair, dressed rather skimpily.

"Hey, Yuffie," Sora said, effectively catching the girl's attention. She jumped from Demyx's body and ran full speed at Sora, knocking him over.

"Oh my god, Sora!! You sound so horrible! Are you sick?" Yuffie asked, tickling the boy.

"Nah. I just had four hours of choir. My voice is shot. Always is," Sora said, between laughs. After a moment, Demyx joined in the tussle. The three rolled on the ground until Axel coughed and motioned across the field. The group slowly pulled apart, careful not to tug at each other's limbs and hair. Sora stood and brushed the dirt and grass off his clothing. No sooner than they were walking towards the rest of their group did Yuffie latch onto Sora's neck and forced him to give her a piggyback ride.

They reached the other three people rather quickly. Sora did a quick head count, then counted again when he noticed they were two people short. He frowned slightly.

"Hey, where are Cloud and Leon?" the brunette asked, completely confused. Tifa turned to him with a look of jealousy.

"I bet they're screwing around. I really wouldn't put it past them. They've been really busy this week." The woman shook her head.

"Well, in that case, how about we just leave them? We can not tell them where we're going and maybe they'll learn not to have sex on a Saturday morning?" Sora said just as someone started yelling from a few feet away.

"No way, bud!" Cloud called as he walked up with Leon at his side. The blonde had a rather noticeable limp.

"You're twenty minutes late," Vincent said, moving closer to Cloud. Sora didn't know all of the facts, but he did know that there had been some pretty strong sexual tension between Cloud and Vincent during their senior year at SIG that was never acted upon, and judging by how Vincent acted around Cloud sometimes, the attraction was still there on his part.

"Yeah, well we were having problems with the hot water in our dorm's showers. The damn things are broken again," Cloud said, a small pout on his lip.

"Uhuh, right," Sora drawled with a large cat grin.

"Sora, shut up before I start cracking gay voice jokes, because you seriously sound gayer right now than I am," Cloud said, grabbing his brother in a head lock. Sora just pouted and struggled his way out of his brother's grip.

"It's not my fault that they sing me hoarse in choir," Sora muttered. Most of the group laughed at the comment, picking up on teasing the poor boy as they walked to the parking lot.

"Ok, ok, enough picking on the shrimp," Axel said, earning a slap on the shoulder from Sora. "Let's figure out who's riding with who."

"We're going to the movie theater, right?" Leon asked, grabbing a motorcycle helmet. Axel nodded to the man. "Right, so Cloud and I are riding Fenrir."

"Whatever, just don't be late again. I call shotgun with Tifa!" Irvine cried, slipping into Tifa's car. Tifa rolled her eyes, slipping in the driver's side.

"Oh! Then I call shot gun with Vinny!" Yuffie squealed, running towards Vincent's small, sleek black car.

"No offense to Tifa, but, uh, she drives like a maniac. I think I'll go with you Vincent," Sora said, following Yuffie.

"I guess I'll go with Tifa then," Demyx said, slipping into the busty girl's car.

"And I'm going where Sora goes," Axel said, smirking, moving to grab for Sora's hand. Vincent raised an eyebrow at the action, but didn't say anything since Sora didn't reject the redhead. Sora and Axel slipped into the back seat of Vincent's car. The ride was relatively silent, with the exception of Yuffie prattling on about some new video game with Axel.

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Riku had escaped to town after the incident with Kadaj. Yazoo had advised him to get out of the house and go do something teenagerly for once. The silverette was used to hanging out on campus with his friends, studying, or working out of weekends. He rarely got to go to town, mainly because his father didn't like his beloved twins being out and about. The man had a chronic fear of his children being kidnapped and used in someone else's experiments. But, of course, Sephiroth wasn't against experimenting on his children himself. Oh, that was no problem at all for him.

Riku had just reached the ticket booth and gotten his ticket when a large, loud group entered the theater. He moved out of the way, headed towards the concession stand. He ordered a large soda and some form of candy. He didn't really pay attention to what, since he didn't particularly care. Candy was candy and he hadn't had any in months.

"Man, I still think we should have picked the action movie! Horror sucks!" Called out an all too familiar tone. Riku looked up at the approaching group, Cloud leading the way with a quite noticeable limp and his boyfriend by his side.

"Be quiet. It was a group decision. Besides, if you get scared you can always leave," Leon said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Hey, that's really mean. What ever happened to 'If you get scared you can hold my hand'?" Cloud whined.

"It's not my style," Leon said simply. Riku shook his head, not fully understanding how those two could even last as a couple. They both seemed so stubborn. Not to mention, it was quite well known that Cloud had whored around a considerable amount in high school. Yazoo and Loz had gone to school with the blonde and had told Riku stories about how sleazy Cloud had been. Cloud had been wild, doing anything or anyone to get off. And apparently, the few relationships he tried to have in his senior year had fallen apart do to multiple accounts of cheating. Cloud seemed to have gotten his act together in college, but then he could only trust his older brothers on so much information. Cloud had graduated the year before he started attending SIG.

Leon was a different story, though. He'd popped out of nowhere, joining SIG from some unknown high school. All anyone knew was that he was somehow related to Irvine. The brunette was stoic and quiet and it was a miracle that Cloud had ever found his way to him to begin with. It was even more astonishing to everyone that the couple had lasted as long as they did with Cloud's known habits. They probably screwed like rabbits to keep Cloud interested.

Riku scanned the rest of the group that was following behind the two lovers. He noted that Sora was being pushed up against a wall by Axel. Their hips were only a centimeter apart and their lips had connected. They made out for a minute or so before Cloud turned around and scolded them. Riku couldn't help but feel there was something about seeing those two together. It felt wrong, deep in his chest. But that didn't really matter in the long run he supposed. He'd just seen something that would work out well for Tidus. When the two boys pulled away from the wall, Sora spotted Riku. The brunette boy said something to Axel and started walking towards him. Axel glared at Riku, but he didn't really care.

"Riku, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to be stuck with Kadaj all weekend," Sora asked, his cheeks tinting pink. Riku shrugged.

"I got fed up and we had a fight. Yazoo recommended that I get out for a while before someone broke something else," the silverette stated easily.

"Oh, I see. Uh, well, what movie are you going to?" Sora asked. It was becoming quite obvious that Sora was harboring some sort of hidden feelings towards Riku, but the silverette chose to ignore them for the time being.

"Shutter."

"What a coincidence. That's what we're seeing," Sora grinned half-heartedly. "I'm not really a horror kind of person but all the others really like it." Riku heaved a sigh of frustration. He didn't want to be in the same theater as those kooks.

"The movie's about to start so I'm going to find a seat," Riku said, moving towards the theater. Sora nodded and followed him. Axel trailed a few feet behind. Riku entered the theater and headed a few rows closer to the screen than Sora's group was. He could hear the group chattering loudly and sunk lower in his seat. He could already tell that he wouldn't be able to watch the movie in peace. Just wonderful.

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Sora stumbled out of the theater shaking. He had grabbed Axel's arm at some point and now was holding it in a death grip. The others laughed at him for being the whimp that he was. They had all gotten a little scared by the movie, Cloud a little more than the others, but Sora was the only one to walk out simply horrified. It only made it more shameful that they were bashing at him with twice the jokes than before. Now he was being made fun of for sounding gay _and_ being a wussy.

"Come on guys. Seriously. What is this? National Pick on Sora Day?" the brunette asked, burying his face into Axel's arm. The others just burst out laughing. Irvine moved around to the side that Axel wasn't on, slipping an arm around Sora's shoulder.

"I just think it might be. You're just so _easy_," he said, leaning down to Sora's ear. Sora shivered at the close contact. Demyx ran up behind the three and grabbed Sora's shoulders, causing him to jump, a pathetic squeak trying to escape from his throat.

"And what can make it easier to pick on you when your throat's so raw that you can't even scream!" Demyx laughed. Sora pouted, shrugging the pests away. When they were no longer touching Sora, he took Axel's arm and slung it over his shoulder and clung to the redhead's trunk instead. Axel just smirked at the action and held Sora tighter in his arms.

"You know, Sora, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you got laid last night," Cloud teased from behind Axel and Sora. Sora sent an evil glare at his brother.

"Just shut up ok? This really isn't funny," Sora said.

"Seriously, it's getting boring. How about we go out for ice cream or something?" Tifa proposed, moving to take lead of the group. Yuffie squealed, starting to jump up and down.

"Let's go to that new place! You know, Materia Matrix! I've heard they have a killer menu and a sweet arcade," Yuffie said with a bit _too_ much excitement.

"That place has been open for like, five months, Yuffie," Leon said, voice flat.

"So what? It's still pretty new!" Yuffie snapped back.

"I take it that we will be getting pizza and ice cream then?" Vincent chimed in quietly.

"They have a lot more than that there. It's a really popular place for both the institute kids and the regular kids. They've got just about any kind of inexpensive food you can imagine," Irvine said.

"Let's go there, then. I think it'd be good for Sora to get something in his stomach," Axel said, grinning.

"I don't think I can even stomach anything after that movie," Sora groaned. The other just laughed as they made the short walk to the restaurant. Upon arriving, the group split into two. Sora, Axel, Vincent, Tifa, and Leon all headed into the restaurant part of Materia Matrix while Cloud, Yuffie, Demyx and Irvine headed into the arcade.

"I bet I can beat you in a game of snowboarding, Cloud!" Yuffie cried out.

"Yeah, right. In your dreams. You're on," Cloud replied cockily as they disappeared into the vast arcade. The others piled into a large booth. It was just big enough for the eight of them to be seated uncomfortably. Leon took over ordering the main meal, getting two cheese pizzas and five buckets of fries. By the time the others made it back to the table, the food was already there. The group ate and made jokes, ordering ice cream after finishing off the last of the pizza.

The group was ready to head back to the dorms by seven, needing to get back and do what little work they needed to get done for classes on Monday. As they began to go their separate ways, Sora clung onto Axel.

"I don't think I can be alone tonight," Sora whispered. "Come stay with me?"

"Sure, babe—but really, no sex," Axel said, pulling Sora closer, a small smile on his lips.

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"So you got into a fight with Riku today?" Sephiroth asked Kadaj as he paced back and forth in front of the boy.

"Yes," Kadaj answered meekly. Sephiroth stopped directly in front of the boy, a hard look in his eyes.

"And why was that?" the intimidating man asked.

"He said I was getting on his nerves. I-I said I missed mother and he went off at me. And then he threatened to leave me. I couldn't help it. I didn't want to be alone! I was afraid he was going to leave me like you said he probably would someday!" the teen spilled, not meeting Sephiroth's eyes.

"He will if you get overprotective like that again. But he is your brother, your twin. He should be the most important thing to you, but you can't let him know that."

"But... what about..."

"He is your brother. He may have the enhanced genetics, but you must make sure you surpass him in everything. You'll have to protect your baby brother in the future."

"He doesn't want me around."

"That's why you need to be cruel to him. He'll leave if you're too nice. He'll hate you if you're too mean. Find that damned medium or I'll take him to my labs permanently. Riku is too much of a scientific investment to go to waste."

"Scientific investment..."

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**Author's Note:** So lovely isn't it? I bet you enjoyed that ending huh? Well, I was at east 2 reviews before I get Drowning up, which shouldn't be that hard since this story got 8 reviews before on one chapter. Anyway, I'm sweetening the deal. The 50th reviewer gets to decided the couple that will take this from T to M rated. Now be a deary and review (since one reason this chapter was so hard to get out was that I had no encouragement I'm a procrastinator by nature).


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